Old Salty 16 Planer

I grew up working on charter and commercial fishing boats in southeastern coastal North Carolina, and worked full time for a number of years as a young adult in that industry.Back in those days (late 60s and early 70s) we primarily fished for king mackerel, false albacore (little tunny), dolphin (as we called them back then; nowadays they are normally referred to as Mahi-Mahi, dorado, or dolphin-fish to avoid confusion with "Flipper"), barracuda, and an occasional wahoo or blackfin tuna.We normally pulled 2 "top lines" (skirted strips or ballyhoo with little or no weight), 2 wire lines with 1 pound trolling weights and a strip/ballyhoo rig or 3-1/2 Drone spoon, and similar lures/baits on two planer hand-lines tied off on the stern of the boat --which often out-caught the 4 rods by a factor of at least 2:1.I also had a 20' Wellcraft that I fished on during ~1994-1999, and I am currently stocking and rigging tackle for a 20' 1989 Boston Whaler Outrage Center Console that I acquired several years ago.So, I know a thing or two about planers.These "Old Salty" planers are like the Cadillacs of the planer world. I have this number #16 and a #8P high-speed version to be rigged for for use as "poor man's downriggers", along with a #1, #2, and #3 to use on a pair of stout Penn rods as "deep lines" to pull offshore of Southport NC in ~60'-120' of water.The Old Salty planers, in terms of general construction, are excellent. Edges of all of the materials are smooth and well finished, and the components (planer body, molded weight, and rods) are all stout and properly bolted together. But the thing that sets these planers apart from those I've used in the past is the use of the small bracket on the underside of the planer body, towards the rear, that anchors the extended rod on the bottom. All of the other planers I remember from the past simply ran the planer rod up through the body at that point and used 2 nuts to secure it.However, the way the Old Salty folks extend the rod forward to the front of the planer body and use the bracket to anchor the rod at the rear makes for a much stiffer, stronger, and more reliable overall construction of the planer as a whole.It will be Old Salty for me from here on out...

The original. Very nice, well made ND quickly delivered.